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I have been using overleaf.com for making my documents. They have templates for all popular formats like presentations, conference papers, and so on. Since I frequently ask questions here, I have noticed that people on this forum does not use online editors?

Is installing packages like TexMaker better than any online resource? What about the version mismatch issue? What are the pros and cons of using online editors?

NAASI
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    it's habit, some of us have been using latex since before there was a web:-) – David Carlisle Mar 31 '16 at 23:06
  • Ok. That makes perfect sense. But can online editors be trusted in a sense that they have updated versions of all packages? – NAASI Mar 31 '16 at 23:11
  • Because in that case it should be much easier for an end user like me. having said that at times I end up with compilation issues and since many users are not using online resources, trouble shooting becomes a problem – NAASI Mar 31 '16 at 23:12
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    This is really bordering on being purely opinion based, especially the title. I think you should refocus the question to ask for pros and cons of using online editors. – Alan Munn Mar 31 '16 at 23:22
  • I don't use online editors except rarely for sharing documents. But Google has made me notice that ShareLaTeX has very nice documentation. – Chris Chudzicki Mar 31 '16 at 23:51
  • One advantage of working off-line: you can use the editor and workflow of your choice (and on your own terms). I am glad things like Overleaf exist, to be sure, but I wouldn't want to be dependent on them for serious, long-term projects. (Note: I don't use them in general.) – jon Apr 01 '16 at 03:15
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    "They have templates" is not a valid reason to use online services to actually compile code. The templates can easily be downloaded and used on a local TeX system – samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz Apr 01 '16 at 16:27
  • pro: one can use the service with any device, that has web capabilities. con: one needs an internet connection. – naphaneal Apr 02 '16 at 00:08

3 Answers3

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You did not mention it in your question, so I think it is important to tell it.

Disadvantages:

  1. Data Security. Are you sure that only you and your guests can read the document you are writing? Is it not possible to reach your document by guessing the web adress? What's about the computing center where your datas are stored. What if you are writing a scientific work, that should not be published by someone else. A remark: Some students in germany are not allowed to use programs in clouds for writing bachelor or master works. That depends on the company they joined for bachelor or master work.
  2. Suppose the web page is down or the service has been shut down. What's about your documents? Have you backup's of them? To run them now you need an installed TeX distribution.
  3. Are you sure that you can use all packages you need for your work? Are you sure the packages are up-to-date? Are you able to use an local texmf if you have to use an older version of an package?
  4. At last you have not the control over the compiling process you would have using an installed TeX distribution. And then you have also the control to update or not update your distribution. Suppose a soon deadline for your work, and an update causes problems with comiling.
  5. Templates can help, but must not. Templates are only helpful, if the user understands what the template does. That is usually not true. Therefore the user runs into problems caused by an template that she/he did not understand. So better start without templates ...
  6. you're tied to a commercial service and their terms of service. What if, all of a sudden, they charge you for that service? Or insert advertisements in your documents? Or claim property of your content? Or just close? You're bounded to any change in the terms of service, and if you don't know how to migrate the data you saved on their server, or if they make it complicated to save them, then you might lost a lot. (Thanks @Clément for his comment!)

Advantage

  1. You need not to install a TeX distribution, but you have to use that thing that is provided by the online editor and the used TeX distribution.
  2. prepared templates can be helpful, if one checks the code an do only use the parts one does understand.

For me the disadvantage of data security is the reason not to use online editors, but that is---of course---my personal opinion.

Mensch
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In addition to all the good arguments in https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/301974/36296, and leaving the TeX level, running your code with a local distribution has the advantage that you can use whatever editor you want. Some offer pretty convenient features, just a few examples from the top of my head:

  • Shortcuts and even custom shortcuts: Often using the same worklflow? Assigning it to a shortcut can save a lot of time.

  • An editor you already use: Use one program you already know from other tasks like programming.

  • Code snippets: Use the same code building blocks again and again? Code snippets can make it easier to find them.

  • Buttons/menus/displays etc.: Many editors provide plenty of features to help writing tex code. Menus to select font sizes, hierarchical structures like sections, various kinds of letters and symbols - Graphical assistants to insert figures or edit tables - autocomplete commands, words or labels and cites - display tooltips about commands ...

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Of course they are not available in every editor, but remember, working locally you have the freedom to choose whatever you want. For a list of available editors, including their main features, see, e.g., LaTeX Editors/IDEs

Besides these considerations about the editor, on your own system you can use all the cool Tools for automating document compilation whereas overleaf only uses latexmk (as far as I know).

Community
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samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz
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Besides the already mentioned benefits of using a Tex Editor (such as Texmaker) instead of an online editor, I would like to add:

  • With Overleaf, heavy documents that take more than a minute to compile require a payment of over 179 euros. However, with a local editor, compilation is free.

  • Different IDEs or text editors offer their own advantages, such as: code snippets and customizable shortcuts, the ability to use your preferred language checkers, multi-lines editing at once with built-in multi-cursor feature (such as in VScode or Sublime Text), git integration, and the option to define files.exclude to hide certain files from the vscode sidebar. Additionally, users can take advantage of particular plugins.

  • You have complete control over the compilation process, which speeds up compilation times (especially when dealing with heavy documents).

  • Files (including non .tex files) from local folders can be previewed/opened with your default external programs (easier than in Overleaf, where only you can see the filenames in the sidebar).

  • The ability for your code and the packages you include to call other external commands/utilities installed on your computer to execute various tasks (after enabling shell escape -shell-escape). Packages such as epstopdf, minted, gnuplot, among others use this.

  • Your relative/absolute paths can point to file locations without duplicating everything by pasting them in the folder with your main .tex file. Soft links can also be created to benefit of this. In contrast, an online editor, all files must be uploaded and updated in the cloud after any change, which can be time-consuming for large numbers of files or frequent updates, such as when figures files are programmatically generated by a script or program.

  • Including figures with the same filename but located in different folders is easier and doesn't require copying the full directory tree to the project's main.tex folder. In Overleaf, you would need to load all your files on its server and update them after changes.

  • Depending on the people you collaborate with (who, in many cases, don't use version managers like git, mercurial or svn), it can be very cumbersome to maintain a clean, error-free online version. It is easier to edit locally, compare with the online version (with a diff tool), merge the changes, and re-upload the merged version.

  • For students, it is better to know how Latex works than entrusting all the work and relying solely on a third-party service, as subscription prices for those services are subject to change without any prior notice.

Bruce_Warrior
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